People resettled due to hydropower projects are weary of waiting for compensation for discrepancies.

Land title not yet issued.

In early May, we met Ms. Vi Thi Lan (45 years old, Ngoc Lam commune, Thanh Chuong district) while she was tending to her tea plantation near her home. This has been the sole source of livelihood for Ms. Lan's family since relocating from Tuong Duong. Despite the hard work, the fluctuating price of tea leaves means the family's income is meager. Therefore, for many years, Ms. Lan's family, like many other households here, has been waiting for the compensation money representing the difference between the land they left and the land they relocated to.

"At almost every meeting and voter outreach event, people ask about this. But so far, we haven't seen anything. I don't know if it will be available or not. If it isn't, we must find a way to answer it so the people know," Ms. Lan said.

Tea plantation near Ms. Lan's house. Photo: Tien Hung

Over 15 years ago, to make way for the Ban Ve hydroelectric power plant, four communes in Tuong Duong district were wiped out, and 2,910 local households were subject to relocation. Most of these households were allocated land by the government, and two new communes in Thanh Chuong district, Ngoc Lam and Thanh Son, were established to relocate them. According to our investigation, 236 households later expressed a desire to relocate freely and received compensation and support for their land. However, the remaining 2,674 households who moved to the resettlement areas in Ngoc Lam and Thanh Son have yet to receive compensation for the difference in land value between their original location and the new one.

According to the leaders of Tuong Duong District People's Committee, the main obstacle is that the land use right certificates have not yet been issued in the resettlement areas of Thanh Chuong District, so there is no data to calculate the difference in land value between the original and new locations. Even the process of allocating land and issuing land use right certificates to the people has not yet been completed.

According to the leaders of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee, the land division for the purpose of issuing land use right certificates has not been carried out because the review and rebalancing of the entire agricultural land area previously allocated to households has not been completed. Furthermore, after the review, it was found that the actual land area used by households differs significantly from the previously recorded land allocation documents. Only after the land division and issuance of land use right certificates are completed will the area between the original and new locations be balanced and submitted to the competent authority for approval.

Ngoc Lam resettlement commune. Photo: TH

Compensation delayed due to disagreement over offsetting methods.

Similarly, in Que Phong district, in 2008, to acquire land for the construction of the Hua Na hydroelectric power plant, many households were forced to relocate to resettlement areas. Hua Na and Ban Ve are the two largest hydroelectric power plants in Nghe An province, with thousands of households having to be relocated. However, 15 years have passed, and nearly 900 households in the area are still waiting for the difference in compensation between their original and new locations.

According to our investigation, the reason for this delay is that 887 households subject to relocation under the project are required to have their land offsets calculated. However, due to complications regarding the calculation method, this process has not yet been completed. Specifically, the investor's view is to apply a calculation method that offsets the total agricultural land of both the original and new locations for the entire household. Meanwhile, the Que Phong District People's Committee's view is to apply a calculation method that offsets each type of agricultural land separately (annual crop land, perennial crop land, aquaculture land, forestry production land, etc.).

According to the district's People's Committee leaders, if the district's calculation method is applied, the total compensation amount for the households is estimated to be nearly 40 billion VND.

Hua Na hydropower resettlement area. Photo: Tien Hung

To address the above issue, the Provincial People's Committee sent a document to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment requesting guidance on implementation. On July 12, 2021, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment responded with Official Letter No. 3787/BTNMT-TCQLĐĐ; based on this, the Provincial People's Committee issued Official Letter No. 4850/UBND-CN on July 14, 2021, assigning the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the People's Committee of Que Phong District to implement the project. On November 9, 2022, the Provincial People's Committee issued Official Letter No. 8891/UBND-CN regarding the handling of agricultural land prices between the original and new locations when implementing the hydropower project; in which, the Provincial People's Committee assigned the People's Committee of Que Phong District to implement the project in accordance with the proposal of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and relevant legal regulations, ensuring that the rights of those whose land is being acquired are not affected and preventing complaints and lawsuits, thus avoiding losses to the state budget.

According to the guidance of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the difference between the original and new land areas will be handled by offsetting the difference based on the total value of agricultural land to ensure compliance with legal regulations and consistency with other hydropower projects nationwide. However, the People's Committee of Que Phong District subsequently failed to implement this and requested the Provincial People's Committee to issue a specific document.

Residents in the resettlement area have been waiting anxiously for compensation for the difference in land prices for the past 15 years. Photo: Tien Hung

Speaking with a reporter from Nghe An Newspaper, Mr. Pham Van Hoa, Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, said that due to numerous outstanding issues and obstacles regarding compensation and resettlement support for hydropower projects in the province, the Provincial People's Committee recently established a working group to address them. From April 19-21, 2023, the working group, headed by the Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, conducted on-site inspections and held meetings with the People's Committees of Que Phong and Tuong Duong districts and the hydropower project investors to resolve outstanding issues and obstacles related to the Ban Ve, Hua Na, and Khe Bo hydropower projects.

Regarding the compensation discrepancy between the original and new locations for the Hua Na hydropower project, the working group proposed that the People's Committee of Que Phong district take the lead in coordinating with Hua Na Hydropower Joint Stock Company to develop a detailed plan for each specific issue and for each group and individual (those whose land is to be acquired; those whose land is not to be acquired; those whose forest land will be processed, etc.), and submit it to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment for comments on each issue before seeking public opinion prior to May 20, 2023. At the same time, the working group requested the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to guide the Compensation and Land Clearance Council of Que Phong district in resolving any obstacles to finalize the specific plan as soon as possible.

Regarding the households resettled due to the Ban Ve hydropower project, the primary responsibility lies with the Ban Ve hydropower project investor and the local authorities of Thanh Chuong and Tuong Duong districts for not having completed the relevant legal documents to comply with the law. After directly inspecting and working with the relevant parties, the Task Force proposes that, for households that have completed the legal procedures related to land in Thanh Chuong district and are not subject to the Ban Ve hydropower project's land inundation level, the Compensation, Support and Resettlement Council of the Ban Ve Hydropower Project should develop a compensation plan for the difference between the original and new locations for these households. This should be completed in the second quarter of 2023.

For households facing issues related to Thanh Chuong district, the Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Council for the Ban Ve Hydropower Project is requested to continue coordinating with the Thanh Chuong District People's Committee to compile and finalize the plan. In the coming time, the Task Force will continue working with the Thanh Chuong District People's Committee to inspect and expedite this matter.